It's known as "The Land of a Thousand Hills," and over the course of my three-week trek across Rwanda, I do believe I crossed every one of them. If anything, "thousand" seriously underestimates the sheer number of hills packed into this pocket-sized country.

Rwanda rolls across the heights of central Africa in a misted landscape of contoured fields and hidden valleys. The last region of Africa to be reached by Europeans, it lies along the watersheds of the Nile and Congo rivers, deep in the humid heart of the continent. A beautiful country, and tragic.

This year marks the 20th commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, when upward of a million people were killed over the course of 100 horrific days. Those events, seared in the collective memory, make Rwanda's current transformation all the more remarkable.

Rwanda today is safe, clean, stable - and welcoming, something that surprises many first time visitors. This is not the realm of budget backpackers and dodgy youth hostels.

As Rica Rwigamba, who oversees Rwanda's tourism and conservation programs, puts it, "We see ourselves as a boutique travel destination."

Indeed, upscale tourism in Rwanda is booming, and though the country's history may be a tale of despair, its future is one of hope. Here then, are some key destinations to help you plan your own itinerary into this new heart of Africa.

Every aspect of the lodge was designed to minimize impact, allowing travellers to experience the jungle first-hand without damaging the environment - or having to rough it in a tent.

As someone who has spent more than his share of nights in a canvas tent, I can affirm that there is no better feeling in this world, having spent the day tracking tree-bounding mangabey monkeys through the forest or crossing suspension bridges along dizzying canopy walks, than to return, sweaty and satisfied, to a warm springfed bath, fine dining, impeccable service and soft cumulus pillows.

Nyungwe Forest Lodge won an international award for hotel design in 2011. The rooms are located in elevated cabins, facing a wall of forest so thick it looks cross-hatched, and at dusk you can hear the chatter and cry of primates and tropically-plumed birds.

Spotlight Author Will Ferguson will be one of several speakers at an April 12 event, in which the Rwanda Community in Calgary invites people to remember the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda. The Rwanda community does not want this tragic event in history forgotten. Featured speakers at the event include Mayor Neheed Nenshi, Jonathan Denis, minister of justice and solicitor general for Alberta and Giller Prize winning author Ferguson, along with keynote speaker Dr. Egide Karuranga, a survivor of Hotel Rwanda who will speak about his experience. The event will occur at Mount Royal University's Glenn Ross Theatre from 3 to 6 p.m.

"Monkeys sometimes wake the guests up," says the lodge's assistant manager Alice Kampire with a laugh. "Like an alarm clock. You can open your balcony and see them jumping in the trees. Guests enjoy that."

THE SOURCE OF THE NILE

As a descendent of the 19th century Scottish explorer David Livingstone, I admittedly have a bias in favour of visiting this historic spot.

The source of the Nile bedevilled and beguiled Europeans for centuries. Livingstone died in destitution, his health ruined, without ever solving the mystery. A German explorer placed it in neighbouring Burundi, others put it in Tanzania, but it was not until 2006 that a British expedition, using GPS and satellite maps, finally tracked the farthest reaches of the Nile - back to an unassuming spring high in the mountains of western Rwanda. (Something, it should be noted, that is still hotly contested in Burundi.) I reached the source of the Nile in a 4 x 4 on a long, rough road that wound its way into the clouds. Hiring a driver is mandatory for most truck rentals in Rwanda - and for good reason! Even with Livingstone as a forebear, I wouldn't have wanted to navigate those tortuous mountain roads on my own. The source itself is just a small pond - a puddle really - in a quiet forested trail. But to stand there, at a site so many explorers dreamed of and died for? I think it's worth it. Even better, it's close enough to the resort town of Karongi on Lake Kivu that you can fall back for dinner and a sunset view at the end of the day.

VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK

The rainforests of Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park are home to the endangered mountain gorillas made famous by Dian Fossey. Fossey gave her life for these "gorillas in the mist," confronting corrupt officials and poachers with a fearlessness that bordered on bravado, and although she was murdered at her base camp in 1985, her work lives on.

After many dark years, the population has stabilized, thanks largely to innovative government conservation programs that funnel the money paid for gorilla permits back into the local communities at the base of the volcanoes.

I passed one former "poacher's village" on the way in that now boasts a health clinic, a brand-new elementary school and a clean water supply all courtesy of the revenue generated by the gorillas. Killing or kidnapping these primates would now be considered counterproductive.

The gorillas, many of them fully habituated to the presence of humans, live in several far-flung groups, accessible only on foot, with visits limited to one hour. I made my trek to the distant Amahoro group with a disconcertedly fit band of hikers and arrived, panting and out of breath, to find a dozen gorillas lounging about amid nettles. As the babies tumbled over each other, a silverback rose like a mountain and shoved his way past us. It was, in every sense, breathtaking. I don't think I exhaled till well after he passed.

My best tip? Although there are accommodations near the park entrance, you can easily stay in the pretty lakeside town of Rubavu instead, on the border of Congo. The Lake Kivu Serena Hotel provides information, early morning wake-ups and a box lunch for your trip to Volcanoes National Park, allowing you to once again combine comfort with trail-slogging conservationism.

AKAGERA

Rwanda is known mainly for its primate tours - and rightly so. Rwanda's national parks feature some of the largest primate populations in Africa, everything from chimpanzees to golden monkeys to the mountain gorillas of the Virunga forests.

But eastern Rwanda is starkly different. A savannah scrubland bordering Tanzania, it features Akagera National Park, home to spring-loaded impalas, bar-code arrangements of zebras, impossibly graceful giraffes, wallowing hippos, a handful of elephants and more than a few muck-dwelling crocodiles.

True, Akagera doesn't offer the scale of safaris that Botswana or Kenya do - although there are plans afoot to reintroduce lions into the park. (No word on what the zebras and impalas think about that.) But if you want to expand your itinerary after a visit to

Nyungwe Forest, Lake Kivu and Volcanoes National Park, Akagera is an easy overnight trip from the capital of Kigali. There is a hotel near the southern gate of the park, and though you aren't required to hire a guide to accompany you, it is strongly recommended. The area is vast, with plenty of thorn bush forests, and finding the animals can be tricky. But how often does one get to see rainforest mountain gorillas and savannah giraffes on the same trip?

PLANNING YOUR VISIT

Passes to see the mountain gorillas, arrangements for rental vehicles and drivers (required!), as well as travel to and accommodations inside Rwanda can be arranged through Thousand Hills Expeditions: www.thousandhillsexpeditions.com For more on Nyungwe Forest Lodge, offering luxury in the heart of the rainforest of the Congo-Nile divide, visit www.nyungweforestlodge.com For accommodations on Lake Kivu that can also be used as a springboard to the mountain gorillas farther east, see Lake Kivu Serena Hotel in Rubavu/Gisenyu: www.serenahotels.com/serenalakekivu For accommodations on Lake Kivu closest to the Source of the Nile, see Moriah Hill Resort in Karongi/Kibuye: www.moriahhill.com WILL FERGUSON is a Calg ary author and travel wri ter whose mos t recen t no vel , 419, won the 2012 Giller Pri ze.

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